Week 3- False sense of security from running in garden. Any tips for pacing myself?

[tryingrealhard]

I've been really impressed with my progress, I'm only on week 3 but I struggled to run for even 30 seconds at the start. The problem is that I don't think I've learned to pace myself when not running in my garden.

I have a long concrete path and to build up strength and confidence I've just been running up and down. Its obviously a bit boring so after completing all my week 3 runs, I was feeling very confident and decided to do it a 4th time in a park nearby my house and it was terrible.

I barely managed to make the 90 second run and couldn't do the 3 minutes all in one go. I think running on my garden path meant that I couldn't go too fast because I would do about 4 lengths (twice up and back) in 60 seconds so I could never really work up that much speed. I felt myself running in the park I was going too fast but I didn't really know how to slow down, writing that down I feel like that sounds so stupid but I honestly couldn't make myself go slower.

I'm a bit conflicted, I was due to start week 4 this weekend but I feel like the run in the park really knocked my confidence and maybe I amn't at the stage where I should be trying 5 minutes if I can't even do 3 in a non backgarden setting.

Any advice for pacing or whether or not I should move on to week 4 like I had planned would be much appreciated

[Gannet1 Graduate]

Were you running on grass in the park, as that would be quite different from running on your concrete path. You’re body would need to adjust, so it depends where you’re going to want to continue to run. Also, I think we all get over excited as newbies! I saw a lot of people on here recommend watching the Japanese slow jogger on YouTube and that really helped me. Don’t lose heart, it’s just a blip, you can do this! 👍

[Irish-John Graduate]

I feel your pain physical and otherwise

Firstly - please don't worry. It's very early days for you still but you ARE progressing

Secondly - anytime I run a totally new route I'm certainly less comfortable than usual. "New" equal "unknown" and not knowing how the surface, surroundings etc are going to affect my running tends to be distracting from focusing on my pace, speed etc.

Thirdly - I honestly believe, based on four years running and countless hours reading posts here, the absolute hardest "skill" to aquire for a runner is Speed.

NOT "fast" but the right speed for oneself. I can run a hell of a lot faster for ten yards than I can for ten miles - I can now run both those distances (but believe me ten yards was a problem when I started, no lie) but the toughest thing to learn was hot to spread my "speed" out from ten yards to ten miles - my Pace.

To this day I have to constantly fight an instinct to run faster than my ability to complete a given distance. And it's taken me time to learn to adjust it depending on the individual routes. One event is all uphill for five miles, then comes back the same way so I know I have to conserve my energy and really take it slow for the first half - but my second half time is going to be much faster as I run downhill

Honestly, you will be fine All if us here felt we NEEDED a programme because we "couldn't run". If we had thought we could run and wanted to run - we'd have already been doing it

Just take it slow, steady and keep it enjoyable on at least some level. I've learned to see the humour in my own "bad" runs - the inanity of feeling down that I couldn't run 5k in less than 30 minutes (and never have lol) while forgetting that Id gone from damn near having cardiac arrest on Day One to where I could run 5k and have the energy to bitch about my time at the end 😂

I hope you stay running with us

Wishing you many happy miles in your future

[Mcallime]

Don’t lose heart! I’ve only run on grass a couple of times but I find it much harder, it feels like the effort to lift my feet up off the grass is much more than concrete. Maybe investigate if there’s any pavements/quiet roads where you could run near you house?

Also I completely get what you mean about not knowing how to slow down. When I did it felt weird and uncomfortable (especially in my knees). Have a look at some technique tips and definitely check out Japanese slow running I think that’ll help

Good luck 😊

[LuckyKat123 Graduate]

Firstly well done you for getting going 👍🏻I was in the same predicament! I started off in my tiny back garden, early evening when I thought the neighbours wouldn’t be looking 😆 and I got to W4 R2 and decided to brave it by venturing past the gate. It was a disaster so I went back to W2 and ended up repeating W3 twice but that’s ok, I’m in no rush to finish 😂

I think you’ve hit the nail on the head saying you’re going too fast. It is hard running slowly and I don’t know if this will help but I download a metronome app and set it to my warm up walking pace. I then reduced it by 10 bpm and followed this beat on my “runs”. I was really clumsy at first but I’ve got the hang of it now. I really was trying to go way too fast at first although I didn’t think so at the time. I can now comfortably do 3 mins AND sing along to my playlist. Looking forward to starting W4 tomorrow.

I’m an overweight 50+ unfit newby to running who has got this far thanks to the amazing people on here 👏👏

Good luck with your next run. You are fabulous and you will do it 💪🏻 😊 🏃‍♀️ 🏃‍♂️

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Welcome to the forum and well done on getting started.

This guide to the plan is essential reading healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

and includes advice on minimising impact, stretching after every run, hydration and strengthening exercises, all of which will help.

The guide explains the recommended pace.

You may find it is better to drop back a week or two and build up your running in the park as obviously your garden running has not prepared your body in the same way as continuous running would. This is about building stamina, not just ticking boxes, so it is not wise to move on until you have each of the early weeks firmly under your belt.

Enjoy your journey.